Heater power feeding mechanism

ABSTRACT

A heater power feeding mechanism for independently controlling temperatures of zones of a stage on which a substrate is placed. The respective zones of the stage include heaters. The heater power feeding mechanism includes a plurality of heater terminals configured to be connected to the heaters, a plurality of heater wires connected to the heater terminals, and an offset structure that offsets the heater wires from each other. The heater terminals are disposed on the periphery of a holding plate for holding the stage.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a heater power feeding mechanism.

BACKGROUND ART

In a semiconductor production apparatus that performs fine-processing on a semiconductor wafer (which is hereafter referred to as a “wafer”) by, for example, etching, the temperature of a stage on which the wafer is placed influences processing results such as an etching rate. For this reason, it is proposed to embed heaters in a stage and to control the temperature of the stage by heating the heaters (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, one heater power feeder is provided for each heater. Also, “multi-zone control” is proposed. In the multi-zone control, multiple heaters are embedded in a stage, the stage is divided into multiple zones corresponding to the heaters, and the temperatures of the zones of the stage are controlled independently. This configuration makes it possible to improve the in-plane uniformity of the temperature of a wafer on a stage.

RELATED-ART DOCUMENT [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-026296

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, as the number of temperature-controllable zones increases, the number of heater power feeders in a heater power feeding mechanism proportionately increases, and the heater power feeding mechanism becomes complex. For example, to perform multi-zone control on a stage divided into 40 zones, at least 40 heater power feeders become necessary. As a result, the number of heater wires becomes very large, and the heater wires interfere with other components of a semiconductor production apparatus. This in turn causes a problem in assembling or maintaining the semiconductor production apparatus, and increases the workload of installing the semiconductor production apparatus.

In view of the above problem, an aspect of this disclosure provides a heater power feeding mechanism that is less likely to interfere with other components of a semiconductor production apparatus.

Means for Solving the Problems

To solve the above problem, an aspect of this disclosure provides a heater power feeding mechanism for independently controlling temperatures of zones of a stage on which a substrate is placed. The respective zones of the stage include heaters. The heater power feeding mechanism includes a plurality of heater terminals configured to be connected to the heaters, a plurality of heater wires connected to the heater terminals, and an offset structure that offsets the heater wires from each other. The heater terminals are disposed on the periphery of a holding plate for holding the stage.

Advantageous Effect of the Invention

An aspect of this disclosure makes it possible to provide a heater power feeding mechanism that is less likely to interfere with other components of a semiconductor production apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a semiconductor production apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an exemplary heater power feeding mechanism including a feeder assembly As1 according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating an upper surface of a holding plate indicated by “a”, a lower surface of the holding plate indicated by “b”, and feeder assemblies As1 and As2 of a heater power feeding mechanism indicated by “c” and “d” according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an exemplary heater power feeding mechanism including a feeder assembly As2 according to an embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and the drawings, the same reference number is assigned to substantially the same components, and repeated descriptions of those components are omitted.

<Overall Configuration of Semiconductor Production Apparatus>

First, an overall configuration of a semiconductor production apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the semiconductor production apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a capacitively-coupled plasma etching apparatus is used as an example of the semiconductor production apparatus 1.

The semiconductor production apparatus 1 includes a cylindrical chamber 10 made of, for example, aluminum whose surface is alumite-treated (or anodized). The chamber 10 is grounded. A stage 12 is provided in the chamber 10. The stage 12 includes an electrostatic chuck (ESC) 40. The electrostatic chuck 40 is held by a holding plate 13.

The electrostatic chuck 40 includes an electrode 40 a made of a conductive film, and insulating layers (or insulating sheets) 40 b that sandwich the electrode 40 a. A direct-current voltage source 42 supplies an electric current via a feeder line 49 to the electrode 40 a under the control of a switch 43. With the electric current supplied from the direct-current voltage source 42, the electrostatic chuck 40 generates a Coulomb force to attract and hold a semiconductor wafer (which is hereafter referred to as a “wafer W”).

Heaters 75 a, 75 b, 75 c, and 75 d (which may be collectively referred to as “heaters 75”) are embedded in the electrostatic chuck 40. Instead of being embedded in the electrostatic chuck 40, the heaters 75 may be attached to the back surface of the electrostatic chuck 40. The heaters 75 are connected to a heater power feeding mechanism 100 and are connected via a feeder line 47 to an alternating-current power supply 44. An electric current output from the alternating-current power supply 44 is supplied via the feeder line 47 and the heater power feeding mechanism 100 to each of the heaters 75 a, 75 b, 75 c, and 75 d.

The heater power supply mechanism 100 enables multi-zone control where the stage 12 is divided into multiple zones using multiple heaters 75, and the temperatures of the zones of the stage 12 are controlled independently. A focus ring 18 made of, for example, silicon or quartz is provided around the electrostatic chuck 40 to improve the in-plane uniformity of etching.

A refrigerant pipe is formed in the stage 12. The temperatures of the zones of the electrostatic chuck 40 are independently controlled to adjust the temperature of the wafer W to a desired value by circulating a refrigerant supplied from a chiller unit through the refrigerant pipe and by heating the heaters 75.

The heater power feeding mechanism 100 includes multiple heater terminals 71, multiple heater wires 72, and an offset structure 73 for offsetting the heater wires 72 from each other. As described later, “offset” in the present embodiment indicates placing the heater wires 72 in desired positions by shifting the heater wires 72 from each other. The heater terminals 71 are connected to the heaters 75. The heater terminals 71 are disposed on the periphery of the holding plate 13 for holding the stage 12. The heater wires 72 are connected via the feeder line 47 to the alternating-current power supply 44.

In the present embodiment, the holding plate is made of an insulating material. However, the holding plate 13 may instead be made of a metal such as aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), or silicon carbide (SiC). The holding plate 13 is supported by an insulating support 14 and a base plate 15. With this configuration, the stage 12 is fixed to the bottom of the chamber 10.

An evacuation pipe 26 forming an evacuation port 24 is provided at the bottom of the chamber 10, and the evacuation pipe 26 is connected to an evacuation device 28. The evacuation device 28 is implemented by a vacuum pump such as a turbo molecular pump or a dry pump. The evacuation device 28 reduces the pressure of a process space in the chamber 10 to a predetermined vacuum pressure, and discharges a gas in the chamber 10 via an evacuation channel 20 and the evacuation port 24. A baffle board 22 is placed in the evacuation channel 20 to control the flow of the gas.

A first high-frequency power supply 31 for exciting plasma is connected via a matching box 33 to the stage 12. Also, a second high-frequency power supply 32 for attracting ions to the wafer W is connected via a matching box 34 to the stage 12. The first high-frequency power supply 31 applies, to the stage 12, high-frequency power with a frequency of, for example, MHz, which is suitable to generate plasma in the chamber 10. The second high-frequency power supply 32 applies, to the stage 12, high-frequency power with a frequency of, for example, 0.8 MHz, which is lower than the frequency of the high-frequency power output by the first high-frequency power supply 31 and is suitable to attract ions in the plasma to the wafer W on the stage 12. Thus, the stage 12 functions as a table on which the wafer W is placed as well as a lower electrode.

A shower head 38 is provided on the ceiling of the chamber 10. The shower head 38 functions as an upper electrode that is at a ground potential. With this configuration, the high-frequency power from the first high-frequency power supply 31 is applied to a “capacitor” formed between the stage 12 and the shower head 38.

The shower head 38 includes an electrode plate having multiple gas holes 56 a, and an electrode support 58 that detachably supports the electrode plate 56. A gas supply source 62 supplies a gas via a gas supply pipe 64 and a gas inlet 60 a into the shower head 38. The gas is introduced via the gas holes 56 a into the chamber 10. Ring-shaped or concentric magnets 66 are disposed around the chamber 10 to control plasma generated in a plasma generation space between the upper electrode and the lower electrode with a magnetic force.

A controller 48 includes a CPU, a read-only memory (ROM), and a random access memory (RAM), and controls, for example, an etching process and the temperature of the electrostatic chuck 40 according to procedures defined by recipes stored in, for example, the RAM. Functions of the controller 48 may be implemented either by software or hardware.

When performing a process such as etching with the semiconductor production apparatus 1 with the above configuration, the wafer W held on a conveying arm is carried via an opened gate valve 30 into the chamber 10. The wafer W is held above the electrostatic chuck 40 by pusher pins and is placed on the electrostatic chuck 40 by lowering the pusher pins. After the wafer W is carried into the chamber 10, the gate valve 30 is closed. The pressure in the chamber 10 is reduced to a preset value by the evacuation device 28. An electric current is supplied from the direct-current voltage source 42 to the electrode 40 a of the electrostatic chuck 40 to electrostatically attract the wafer W on the electrostatic chuck 40.

A gas is introduced in the form of a shower via the shower head 38 into the chamber 10. The introduced gas is ionized and dissociated by high-frequency power, and plasma is generated. With the plasma, plasma processing such as plasma etching is performed on the wafer W. After the plasma etching is completed, the wafer W is held on the conveying arm and carried out of the chamber 10. The above process is repeated to consecutively process multiple wafers W.

The overall configuration of the semiconductor production apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is described above. In the above embodiment, four heaters 75 are embedded in the electrostatic chuck 40. However, the heaters 75 may also be disposed in any other part of the stage 12. Also, the number of the heaters 75 may be any value greater than or equal to two.

However, as the number of the heaters 75 increases, the number of heater wires also increases, and the heater wires may interfere with other components of the semiconductor production apparatus 1. This in turn causes a problem in assembling or maintaining the semiconductor production apparatus 1, and increases the workload of installing the semiconductor production apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the heater power feeding mechanism 100 is provided to prevent the heater wires 72 from interfering with other components of the semiconductor production apparatus 1, to prevent a problem in assembling or maintaining the semiconductor production apparatus 1, and to improve work efficiency even when the number of the heaters 75 is large. Next, the heater power feeding mechanism 100 of the present embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

<Heater Power Feeding Mechanism>

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater power feeding mechanism 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, “a” indicates an upper surface of the holding plate 13 and “b” indicates a lower surface of the holding plate 13 according to the present embodiment. Also in FIG. 3, “c” indicates a feeder assembly As1 and “d” indicates a feeder assembly As2 of the heater power feeding mechanism 100 of the present embodiment.

As illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3, the heater power feeding mechanism 100 includes multiple assemblies each of which includes multiple heater terminals 71, multiple heater wires 72 connected to the heater terminals 71, and an offset structure 73 for offsetting the heater wires 72 from each other. In FIG. 3, “a” indicates an upper surface of the holding plate 13 that corresponds to the A-A section of FIG. 2. Groups of terminals including a number of heater terminals 71 necessary for temperature control and an electrode terminal 76 are arranged on the periphery of the holding plate 13.

The periphery of the holding plate 13 on which the groups of terminals are arranged corresponds to an area of the stage 12 where the wafer W is not placed. With this configuration, the feeding points of the heaters 75 and the feeding point of the terminal of the electrostatic chuck 40 are located at positions that are closer to the outer edge of the electrostatic chuck 40 than the positions of the heater wires 72. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, feeder lines such as the heater wires 72 are located at positions offset from the positions of feeder terminals rather than at positions immediately below the feeder terminals. Thus, the heater terminals 71 and the electrode terminal 76 are disposed at positions that are closer to the outer edge of the electrostatic chuck 40 than an area of the electrostatic chuck 40 on which the wafer W is placed. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the Joule heat of the heater terminals 71 from influencing the wafer W, and to improve the in-plane uniformity of the temperature of the wafer W. That is, even when the number of the heater terminals 71 is increased for multi-zone temperature control of the electrostatic chuck 40, the above configuration makes it possible to maintain the in-plane uniformity of the temperature of the wafer W.

The offset structure 73 places the heater wires 72 in desired positions by shifting (or offsetting) the heater wires 72 from each other. The heater wires 72 are connected to a group of heater terminals 71. The offset heater wires 72 are bundled by a bundling part 80 (see FIG. 2 and “b” of FIG. 3) disposed below the holding plate 13. The bundling part is a resin case for bundling the heater wires 72 extending from the offset structure 73 and to be connected to a connector 74. The heater wires 72 bundled by the bundling part 80 are connected to the connector 74. The connector 74 is connected to the feeder line 47. An upper part 74 a of the connector 74 is connected to the bundled heater wires 72. The upper part 74 a and a lower part 74 b of the connector 74 are joined together so that terminals 74 b 1 provided in the lower part 74 b of the connector 74 are inserted into the upper part 74 a of the connector 74. This configuration makes it possible to perform wire connection at the same time as the electrostatic chuck 40 is attached. One or more connectors 74 may be provided. The positions of the connectors 74 are not limited to those illustrated in FIG. 3 “b”. The connectors 74 may be disposed at any positions near the bundling part 80.

<Feeder Assemblies As>

The heater power feeding mechanism 100 includes two types of feeder assemblies, i.e., the feeder assembly As1 of FIG. 3 “c” and the feeder assembly As2 of FIG. 3 “d” (which may be collectively referred to as “feeder assemblies As”). As illustrated by FIG. 3 “c”, the feeder assembly As1 includes multiple heater terminals 71, multiple heater wires 72, and an offset structure 73. The heater terminals 71 are connected to the heater wires 72. The heater wires 72 are offset from each other in a case 73 a. The case 73 a may be made of, for example, a resin.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the offset structure 73 of the feeder assembly As1, the heater terminals 71 protrude from the upper surface of the case 73 a. The heater wires 72 are shifted (or offset) from each other in the case 73 a, and exit from desired positions in the bottom of the case 73 a. The heater wires 72 are connected via the bundling part 80 and the connector 74 to the feeder line 47. With this configuration, an electric current from the alternating-current power supply 44 is supplied to the heaters 75 via the feeder line 47, the connector 74, the heater wires 72, and the heater terminals 71.

As illustrated by FIG. 3 “d”, the feeder assembly As2 includes one electrode terminal 76, multiple heater terminals 71 other than the electrode terminal 76, one direct current wire 77, multiple heater wires 72 connected to the heater terminals 71, and an offset structure 73. The electrode terminal 76 is connected to the direct current wire 77. The wires 72 and 77 are offset from each other in a case 73 b. The case 73 b may be made of, for example, a resin.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in the offset structure 73 of the feeder assembly As2, the electrode terminal 76 and the heater terminals 71 other than the electrode terminal 76 protrude from the upper surface of the case 73 b. The direct current wire 77 and the heater wires 72 are shifted (or offset) from each other in the case 73 b, and exit from desired positions in the bottom of the case 73 b. The direct current wire 77 is connected via the bundling part 80 to the feeder line 49. With this configuration, an electric current from the direct-current voltage source 42 is supplied to the electrode terminal 76 via the feeder line 49 and the direct current wire 77. The heater wires 72 are connected via the bundling part 80 and the connector 74 to the feeder line 47.

In FIG. 3, “b” indicates a lower surface of the holding plate 13 that corresponds to the B-B section of FIG. 2. In the present embodiment, eleven feeder assemblies As1 and one feeder assembly As2, which are preassembled, are fixed in the holding plate 13 by, for example, welding. Thus, the feeder assemblies As1 and As2 are placed at predetermined positions in the holding plate 13. The heater wires 72 connected to a number of heater terminals 71 necessary for temperature control and the direct current wire 77 connected to the electrode terminal 76 exit from the cases of eleven feeder assemblies As1 and one feeder assembly As2, and are bundled by the bundling part 80 below the holding plate 13. The bundling part 80 has a substantially-annular shape, bundles the wires in a resin case, and guides the wires to the connectors 74 to which the wires are connected.

For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, a space is formed between the holding plate 13 and the base plate 15. This space houses components (indicated by “Pt” in FIG. 4) such as a thermometer and pusher pins for raising and lowering the wafer W when the wafer W is carried into and out of the chamber 10.

When the electrostatic chuck 40 is divided into many zones whose temperatures are independently controlled, heaters need to be provided for the respective zones and hence the number of heater wires 72 greatly increases. When the number of heater wires 72 becomes large, the heater wires 72 interfere with other components Pt in the semiconductor production apparatus 1. This in turn causes a problem in assembling or maintaining the semiconductor production apparatus 1, and increases the workload of installing the semiconductor production apparatus 1.

In the heater power feeding mechanism 100 of the present embodiment, the heater wires 72 and the direct current wire 77 in each of the feeder assemblies As1 and As2 are offset from each other. Also, the offset heater wires 72 and direct current wire 77 are bundled by the bundling part 80 and connected to the connector 74.

This configuration reduces the interference of the heater wires 72 and the direct current wire 77 with other components Pt, and makes it possible to prevent a problem in assembling or maintaining the semiconductor production apparatus 1.

Also according to the present embodiment, preassembled feeder assemblies As1 and As2 can be attached to predetermined positions in the holding plate 13 from underneath the holding plate 13. This makes it possible to reduce the time necessary to assemble the heater power feeding mechanism 100 and to easily and quickly connect the heater wires 72 and the direct current wire 77 to the feeder lines. This also makes it possible to improve the efficiency of assembling and maintaining the heater power feeding mechanism 100.

Also in the present embodiment, the heater terminals 71 and the electrode terminal 76 are disposed at positions that are closer to the outer edge of the electrostatic chuck 40 than an area of the electrostatic chuck 40 on which the wafer W is placed. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the Joule heat of the heater terminals 71 from influencing the wafer W, and to improve the in-plane uniformity of the temperature of the wafer W. That is, even when the number of the heater terminals 71 is increased for multi-zone temperature control of the electrostatic chuck 40, the above configuration makes it possible to maintain the in-plane uniformity of the temperature of the wafer W.

A heater power feeding mechanism according to the embodiment is described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, embodiments may be combined in any appropriate manner.

The heater feeding mechanism 100 of the above embodiment is configured to control the temperatures of respective zones of the electrostatic chuck 40 each of which includes a heater. However, the heater power feeding mechanism of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, multiple heaters may be embedded in a component (e.g., the holding plate 13) other than the electrostatic chuck 40 to divide the holding plate 13 into multiple zones corresponding to the heaters, and the heater power feeding mechanism may be configured to enable multi-zone control of the temperature of the holding plate 13.

Also in the above embodiment, each of the feeder assemblies As1 and As2 of the heater power feeding mechanism 100 includes multiple heater terminals 71, multiple heater wires 72, and an offset structure 73 for offsetting the heater wires 72 from each other. The number of two types of feeder assemblies and the number of components constituting each feeder assembly are not limited to those described in the above embodiment.

Also, the heater power feeding mechanism of the present invention may be applied not only to a capacitively-coupled plasma (CCP) apparatus but also to other types of semiconductor production apparatuses. Examples of other types of semiconductor production apparatuses may include an inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) apparatus, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus using a radial line slot antenna, a helicon wave plasma (HWP) apparatus, and an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma apparatus.

Further, the heater power feeding mechanism of the present invention may be applied not only to a semiconductor production apparatus for processing a wafer, but also to a semiconductor production apparatus for processing a large-size substrate for a flat panel display, an EL element, or a substrate for a solar battery.

The present international application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-103511 filed on May 19, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1: Semiconductor production apparatus

10: Chamber

12: Stage (lower electrode)

13: Holding plate

28: Evacuation device

38: Shower head (upper electrode)

40: Electrostatic chuck

44: Alternating-current power supply

42: Direct-current voltage source

47, 49: Feeder line

71: Heater terminal

72: Heater wire

73: Offset structure

73 a: Case

73 b: Case

74: Connector

76: Electrode terminal

77: Direct current wire

80: Bundling part

100: Heater power feeding mechanism

As1, As2: Feeder assembly 

1. A heater power feeding mechanism for independently controlling temperatures of zones of a stage on which a substrate is placed, the respective zones of the stage including heaters, the heater power feeding mechanism comprising: a plurality of heater terminals configured to be connected to the heaters; a plurality of heater wires connected to the heater terminals; and an offset structure that offsets the heater wires from each other, wherein the heater terminals are disposed on a periphery of a holding plate for holding the stage.
 2. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a bundling part that bundles the heater wires offset by the offset structure; and a connector connected to the heater wires bundled by the bundling part.
 3. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the offset structure, a predetermined number of the heater terminals, and a predetermined number of the heater wires constitute an assembly that is preassembled and attached to the holding plate.
 4. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the offset structure, a predetermined number of terminals including an electrode terminal and the heater terminals, and a predetermined number of wires including a direct current wire and the heater wires constitute an assembly that is preassembled and attached to the holding plate.
 5. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stage includes an electrostatic chuck and the heaters are disposed in the electrostatic chuck.
 6. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the periphery of the holding plate on which the heater terminals are disposed corresponds to an area of the stage where the substrate is not placed.
 7. The heater power feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding plate is made of an insulating material. 